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Archive:Aegran Blackfallow
A tall, powerfully built man, Aegran seems to be in good spirits and excellent form for a man in his mid-thirties. His face is gaunt with green eyes, a average nose in both shape and size and his skin while rough in places from years of physical labor and battle, is lightly tanned. A full head of blonde hair almost as straight as an arrow rests around his neck, with a full goatee framing his mouth, giving him a very mature look. Which he seems to have grown into, much like one would grow into a pair of shoes. He is often seen in heavy armor, of varying types depending on when and where he is, but favors above all else the set of armor given to him by the Alliance for his service in Outland prior to the campaign against the Lich King in Northrend. Strapped to his back is his blade Iron Feather, a blade which appears older than he is, but still as sharp as keen steel made in today's forge. Appearance Aegran stands at roughly 5'8" and weighs around 157 lbs. He has an average build, compared to most men, with well defined muscle completely lining his frame. His hair is a dirty blonde color which can be seen to shine at times when the light hits it, made easier by the fact that he keeps it loose around his neck, although occasionally he will tie it back in a ponytail. He doesn't care much for styling outside of this, prefering to keep his hair in a practical style, not something befitting a noble lord. When he is seen around the cities that he visits when he is not governing his own lands, he can always be seen in the armor gifted to him by the Alliance. Modelled after the Justiciar Armor favoured by the Draenei vindicators of Shattrath, the colors are pearlescent white and ivory, with some gold and amethyst trim, which despite it's constant use, still seem to be as well maintained as the day it was forged. Personality Aegran is, to put it bluntly, a cautious man, with a kind personality, with the events of his life forcing years of maturity that most would take an entire lifetime to gather even among the noble caste. Often happy to strike up a conversation, he seems very level headed and disciplined if only judging by how and when he speaks. A true diplomat, he can often be seen as the neutral party during various arguments, providing a means to settle and calm rather than inciting anger and violence. At first glance he seems trustworthy, someone that a man or woman could come to with their problems, and this is reflected in every action he does and his mindset of equality, which is shown even when talking to other paladins among the various orders that have risen since the decline of the Silver Hand. Background Early Life Aegran Blackfallow was born to his father Lord Karloff Blackfallow and his mother Lamia at Blackfallow Keep a small plot of land situated to the north of what was then known as Darrowmere Forest. His childhood was one of learning both in academics and training in swordsmanship from age five, because despite being raised in relative peacetime, there were still many troubles at the borders of his families lands, which consisted mostly of troll raiding parties, but also the occasional group of bandits that would try to muscle into the town to take what they believed to be rightfully theirs and it was Lord Karloff's belief that his son be trained, as those without a sword can still die on them. He was also trained, for some years the arts of diplomacy and language, learning how to speak fluent Thalassian due the proximity they had to the elves of Quel'Thalas and the bountiful trade that they maintained through good relations with the secluded magic wielders and rangers. He was only a young boy of nine years old when the Grand Alliance was formed in response to the razing of Stormwind and the onset of the second war with the Orcish Horde. Like every young boy he was eager to fight, but his father managed to talk him out of doing anything rash, not only because he was still too young to hold one of the longswords made at the Blackfallow forge, but also because he was Karloff's only son, and would become the Lord should he fall. It was during this time that his father also started the construction of several holdouts beneath the keep, employing several dwarven construction teams for their legendary skill and efficiency. These large rooms were capable of holding the entire population of his small lands should the worst happen. Thankfully however, despite the aggressive nature of the Orcish Horde and their allies in the Amani Tribe, his father survived the war with the horde, his final battle taking place at Blackrock Mountain where the horde was smote to ruin on the mountainside. Returning to his family a changed man, but a victorious one, Karloff began to train his son once more, with more focus on swordsmanship and the qualities of lordship for the time when he would become the Lord of the Blackfallow lands. Many years after the fall of the Horde at Blackrock Spire, the Blackfallow lands once again fell into a time of relative peace. During this time the holdouts beneath Blackfallow Keep were finished, credit given to the skill and speed of the dwarven construction teams. This ensured that should another Horde or similar army rise again, that they would be ready and that their people would have a safe haven with which to take refuge in and remain alive. During the later years Aegran would start to attended court in the palace of Lordaeron when he could or when he was summoned, and while his father would have had him marry, with many potential women who would match him, he remained without a wife although he made many good friends within the court including a young woman by the name of Kalindra, who became one of his closest friends. The War with the Scourge When the plague arrived in Lordaeron, rumor spread like wildfire and Aegran, was once again confined to Blackfallow Keep. His father, in looking out for his people cut all shipments from any neighbouring provinces, explaining to his people that any source of food could be contaminated. As a result they were to feed off the mushrooms and cavefish that his lands were famous for, and while certainly bland, he assured his people that at least this way, there would be no risk the plague spreading into his lands. As fate would have it, he was lucky to have done so as it was soon revealed to him that the grain from Andorhal was plagued and the plague was not simply killing the people of the area, but turning them into mindless undead. At this revelation he ordered his people to abandon their homes and make for the holdouts, which by this time were not only complete but fully furnished and able to be lived in as if they were the homes they had just left behind. This to would be an act that would save his people, although Karloff would not live to see that end. Following the act of getting his people to safety, Karloff assembled a small force, mainly himself, his captain of the guard Mikhail and a few trusted men, and rode to the aid of Lordaeron. Fighting where they could against the encroaching undead. The battles would be small, and meaningless in the grand scope of things, but all of them felt that they were making a difference and that was enough for them. Regretably it was shortly after these battles had been won that Lordaeron itself fell, and when riding to the defense of the fleeing survivors that tragedy struck. Karloff and his knights rode to battle a scourge raiding party, but were taken unawares by the presence of one of the insidious Death Knights, Duke Vallenhal, a former comrade and fellow noble that had been twisted by the power of the undead scourge. Karloff and his knights fell in battle attempting to rescue those few survivors, forcing Aegran to take up the mantle of Lord despite being only 23 years old. Later Aegran himself would learn that along with his father King Terenas was slain by his own son, and shortly after Uther the Lightbringer and several senior paladins of the Silver Hand, would fall at Andorhal also killed by the hand of Prince Arthas. Doing what he considered best for his people he ordered his soldiers to fall back to Blackfallow Keep, having lost too many to the armies of the scourge and there they stood watch and they waited. While it left a bad taste in Aegran's mouth to leave Lordaeron to its fate, his first and only responsibility was to his people, and so he remained at Blackfallow Keep, keeping an eye on the horizen for any signs of the undead forces, which had started to be called the Scourge due to it's record of scourging entire settlements of all forms of life. Finally when the scourge marched on Quel'thalas, he lead his men in their defense, at least for a time. Like before he was unable to hold the tide and many of his men paid with their lives for what small impact they had on the undead scourge and so he ordered his remaining men into the holdouts, where they sealed the doors and once again waited. It seemed like an age, and for the longest time they simply sat in the holdouts, with what food and water they had available, waiting for the Scourge threat to pass, which it eventually did. When Aegran and his people emerged from the holdouts after what felt like years of living underground, much had changed. Lordaeron was a pale shadow of what it once was, what few pockets of life to the south had been all but snuffed out and reports from his scouts claimed that the entire kindom of Quel'Thalas was nothing but a smoking, decrepit ruin, but there was also good news, a small settlement to the south had been established by surviving paladins of the Silver Hand. Named the Argent Dawn, the order considered themselves to be the last bastion of hope for Lordaeron, and so it was with some relief that Aegran allied with this order, with himself and many of his soldiers taking up the banner of the Dawn, Aegran himself becoming a Templar of the Order, and the keep being repurposed to serve as a stronghold for Dawn activities. After the War It was also during this time that Aegran regained contact with the Alliance. He learned that while the northern kingdoms were all but shattered, that Khaz Modan had remained relatively untouched, as was Stormwind. Reaching out to the Alliance, he spoke of the Dawn and how all hope was not lost in the north, and as a result of his political diplomacy, gained a seat on the council of nobles, although he rarely sat at the table, being too busy in the north to attend. His manuverings with the Alliance brought him news of the re-opening of the Dark Portal a few years later, and when Aegran heard of an alliance expedition that was being sent beyond to see what had happened to the heroes of old, presumed dead after the portal collapsed he made to march to the Alliance's aid. Seeking permission from the then leader of the Dawn, Lord Maxwell Tyrosus, Aegran joined the expedition, not only for his own interests, but for the interests of the Dawn as well. He fought in that campaign for several years, battling against the Illidari Hordes, the Burning Legion and at times the Horde themselves, however before he could engage in the final campaign against Illidan, he was injured and forced to return home. Later he would learn that Illidan was defeated, presumed dead, although there was no guarantee, and that a minor peace would form in the region, especially between the Alliance and the Horde which at many times surprisingly even to Aegran, had aided each other in the defeat of the Illidari and the Burning Legion. A few short years later, after he had fully healed from the injuries suffered in the Outland campaign, Aegran would fight at the Battle for Light's Hope, where he defended the chapel against hundreds of undead, along with the best of the Lich King's Death Knights. While there were many casualties, thankfully Aegran was not among them, he would join forces with the remenants of the Silver Hand and help form the Argent Crusade, then, under the leadership of Lord Tirion Fordring, he would sail north into the icy wastes of Northrend, where he would take the battle to the leader of the scourge himself but not before Aegran settled a personal matter. Tracking down the death knight that killed his father and his mentor Mikhail, Aegran put Duke Vallenhal to the sword after a feverishly pitched battle that saw many, both scourge and human fall within the Ruby Dragonshrine where the Duke was spreading his vile corruption. Finally, after more years of fighting, The Lich King himself would fall, and while not present for the final battle, Aegran was overjoyed that at least some justice had been dealt to the man that had caused so much chaos in the lands he had come to call home. In Recent Months - Currently The most recent months were a trial for the Lord of Blackfallow Keep, starting with investigations into human attacks on the Forsaken. As a knight of the Argent Crusade, he was a neutral party and much like the leader of the Argent Crusade believed that there were far greater threats to the world that needed both the Horde and Alliance to work together to defeat, rather than remain divided and fighting amongst each other. The events of the Cataclysm only brought those thoughts into a firm reality, as neither the Horde or Alliance alone could have defeated Deathwing and the Twilight's Hammer. Travelling to Stormwind to investigate the source of the attacks, he would learn that the attacks on the Forsaken were made by a group of freelance soldiers, former alliance, under the command of a displaced Lord, who's keep was harried constantly by the forces of the Slyvannas Windrunner. Taking his case to the Alliance, he convinced them in the wake of the Cataclysm and the rise of Deathwing, that these attacks on the Horde were not acceptable. They were quick to remind him of the atrocities commited in Southshore, and one of the Admirals, Rogers, was absolutely livid with the idea of not punishing the Horde for their crimes, but his words eventually managed to convince the Alliance to order the noble to stand down. It would not be that easy of course, as the noble would disobey these orders, and wage a war against the Forsaken in earnest. Dishonored and stripped of all alliance titles, this lord was thrown to the wolves, but it was the Aegran who would see the final blow made, along with Crusade itself. Marching to the keep, he entered under the pretense of a diplomatic mission, only to impale the noble on his sword, ending the command of the disgraced former soldier. The nobles men, those that were not killed in the defense of their lord were given a choice. They could either join the Crusade, and their keep could become another bastion of neutrality, which would save their lives, or they could be killed or left for the Forsaken, without a Lord and without much needed supplies. While some refused the offer and left, many others agreed and so this small keep, on the borders of the river dividing the eastern and western plaguelands, became another bastion for the Argent Crusade. Messengers were sent to the Forsaken, the Alliance and the Crusade informing all parties of the situation, and while only for Forsaken approved of the way the matter was handled, all parties seemed glad to be able to turn their focus to the much larger threat. Eventually Deathwing himself and his servants the Twilight's Hammer would fall, and while this would have been cause for celebration at any other time, the wake of the creatures death invited the Horde, now lead by Garrosh Hellscream, to renew an age old conflict not seen in this scale since the time of Orgrim Doomhammer. His neutral stance strained, especially with the fall of Theramore, Aegran has remained true to the Argent Crusade and their ideals, despite the impact it has had on his life and the dangers it poses to his people. Category:Alliance Category:Human Category:2012